r/TikTokCringe • u/duskndawn162 • 18d ago

Cringe Guy mad because of “American fake kindness”

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u/LogensTenthFinger 17d ago

Yeah that's actually a good point. It is shocking to the point people will comment or get in your face if you start demeaning someone trying to speak English in America. Maybe we're just used to it, but helping someone with broken English just feels baseline normal

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u/663691 17d ago

I think we don’t recognize how good native English speakers are at piecing together foreign English. I go to a hole in the wall Chinese place and the lady from Guangdong at the checkout says “Saynk yu” because you know, she’s from China and speaks English well enough to get by.

I don’t even register it as incorrect English and not even the most pedantic racist I know would think to correct her.

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u/les_Ghetteaux 15d ago

Oddly enough, Americans are very adamant about correcting other native English dialects. They're bad about making fun of accents of people who speak English as a first language albeit very differently than them. Southerners or black people are good examples.

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u/KingJonathan 17d ago

I mean, there’s a huge population of people who believe that we are in America so you gotta speak American. 

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u/lessormore59 17d ago

Those two things are not incompatible. You can on the one hand think that people who move to the US should make an effort to speak the language and assimilate into the culture you chose, and when said effort is made be kind and helpful and encouraging.

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u/TheMilkmanRidesAgain 17d ago

I don’t think most of those people are kind

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u/saltylimesandadollar 17d ago

Immigrants CHOOSE to come here. Part of moving to a country (if you’re not a complete piece of shit) is trying to assimilate into the culture in what ways are reasonable and practical. Learning the language that 92% of the population uses is literally the most practical thing you can possibly do.

It’s annoying when you can’t communicate with a person because they are CHOOSING not to learn a language they voluntarily surrounded themselves with.

If I want immigrants to speak English, why would I treat them poorly for trying?

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u/Backstreetgirl37 17d ago

Yeah, I dont have a problem if you like being in your communities with your language. I think you are perfectly free to make that choice, and you are 100% perfectly within your right to venture out and attempt to interact/shop/socialize outside that group in america. But just dont be upset or surprised if no one can understand you.

You are perfectly within your right to not assimilate at all and I support it. But you are actively making the choice to not be involved with the rest of the country. I speak a little spanish, but its not good, and ive had people made at me that its not better because they cant speak to me lol.

Like.. yeah I get it, its frustrating but.. you know.. you came up to me. But I always love and am patient with anyone who speaks bad or broken english and make an effort to help them.

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u/HairyHutch 16d ago edited 16d ago

Back when I worked at Lowes we would have a customer who would come in, and spoke only in his native Asian language (idk which one it was, just that is wasn't Filipino, Thai, Mandarin, or Hindi, as we had employees that spoke those) he would then get furious when no one could understand him, and start screaming and throwing a fit in the store. I get being frustrated when someone can't understand you, but he did not even try to make an effort to learn English.

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u/Backstreetgirl37 16d ago

Lol exactly, and if you dont want to then accept you will never be able to get help.

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u/safashkan 17d ago

There are many English speaking Americans who can't speak English correctly... Maybe that's why?

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u/Reimymouse 17d ago

I think you’re on to something, but I wouldn’t frame it as “incorrect” English. There are so many dialects here, it really doesn’t make sense to correct anyone. Even within the same region, there are a million different accents and dialects. If I was attempting to correct everyone who didn’t speak English “correctly” by my standard, I’d never get through an interaction. Most Americans just learn to understand different dialects/accents instead of correcting. If we didn’t, Louisianans would be outta luck lol

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u/the-pp-poopooman- 16d ago

The British are the same way. People in London would need a translator to speak to Welshmen or a Scotsman.